This invention relates to a disc cleaning device for cleaning the information recording surface of a disc, such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc, housed within a cartridge main body. More particularly, it relates to a disc cleaning device for cleaning the information recording surface of the disc with a cleaning member by rotating the disc as it is housed within the cartridge main body.
Up to now, a disc such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc has been used as a disc-shaped recording medium for recording and/or reproducing information signals. This disc has a disc-shaped disc substrate, a center zone of which is adapted to be held by a disc rotating and driving unit of a disc player. The disc has at least one of its major surfaces as a signal recording surface for recording and/or reproducing information signals. A signal recording layer is deposited on the major surface of the disc substrate which is to be the signal recording surface.
In a disc player apparatus for optically reading and reproducing the information recorded on the optical disc or the magneto-optical disc, if dust and dirt are affixed to the signal recording surface of the disc, or the recording surface is grazed, the rate of occur fence of readout errors is increased to render it impossible to reproduce the information reliably. Thus a disc cartridge has been proposed in which the disc is accommodated in a cartridge main body in the form of a casing with a view to preventing the information recording surface from being damaged by contact with fingers or the like and assuring facilitated handling of the optical disc or the magneto-optical disc.
With such disc cartridge, the disc is housed for rotation within the cartridge main body. The cartridge main body has a chucking aperture for exposing a chucked part of the disc to outside and recording/reproducing apertures for exposing at least a portion of the signal recording surface of the disc to outside across the inner and outer peripheries of the disc. If this disc cartridge is loaded on the disc player apparatus, the chucked part of the disc housed in the cartridge main body is held via the chucking aperture, while recording and/or reproduction of the information signals on or from the signal recording surface is carried out via the recording and/or reproducing apertures.
With the above-described disc cartridge, a shutter member is used for closing the recording and/or reproducing apertures during non-use time for preventing dust and dirt from being intruded into the inside of the cartridge main body for protecting the disc. The shutter member includes shutter plate sections sized to close the recording and/or reproducing apertures. The shutter member has its web supported in the vicinity of a lateral surface of the cartridge main body so that the shutter member may be slid along the lateral side of the cartridge main body. By the sliding of the shutter member, the recording and/or reproducing apertures are opened and closed by the shutter plate sections.
Meanwhile, with the disc used in the unprotected state without being housed in the cartridge main body, the risk is high that impurities such as dust and dirt become affixed to the signal recording surface to injure the signal recording surface. However, such disc can be cleaned easily. On the contrary, it is possible with the disc cartridge having the disc housed within the cartridge main body to prevent such impurities from being intruded into the cartridge main body to protect the disc. However, with such disc problem is raised that, if impurities are intruded into the cartridge main body to become affixed to the signal recording surface of the disc, the signal recording surface cannot be cleaned easily.